Christine Lawrence: To Have & To Kill

 read in 2025

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/235961651-to-have-and-to-kill-book-2

I found this author on facebook in one of the ARC groups I'm a member of they were actually offering this book to someone else and I have been regularly checking the different groups to find new (to me) authors/Indie authors.  I usually read romance novels and occasionally branch out to read something in a different genre.

I really enjoyed this book it was a good cozy murder mystery with the feel of old school Murder She Wrote episodes with the small town vibes, the amateur detective work and continuing the investigation even though law enforcement has discussed how dangerous it could be to continue.

I have not read the first book in the series but I didn't feel lost with how the author added some bits of info from the story that took place previously.  Leah is the owner of a wedding planning business/hall in Ohio the story starts with her and her friends/co-workers planning an expo at their job site bringing in other people who run wedding related businesses for potential brides & grooms to peruse.

Leah is pretty soon after called in to act as a go-between for two vendors having a dispute one vendor believing they needed more space to air out their wedding dresses from their shop and moving into another vendor's space while this heated discussion is quickly doused a mystery begins when a few days later the wedding dress vendor is found dead in their home from unnatural circumstances with the other vendor (who owns a flower shop) being the lead suspect.

At first not wanting to get involved Leah gets talked into helping by her co-worker knowing that her friend needs their help.  Leah gets help from a private investigator (who helped with the case in the last book) and they begin to unravel the mystery finding that there were plenty of others that could have a motive for murder the victim had made several enemies prior to her passing.

This was a fast paced old fashioned who done it where you kind of have to believe that the people will that willingly give up information to a random person (not working with the police) really liked that small town amateur investigator feel, and since so many people popped up as a possible suspect it kept me guessing as to who the culprit was.  I enjoyed the story and plan to go back and read the first one at some point!  

*Cozy Mystery  *Murder mystery  *amateur detective  *quick read  

*2nd in series but could be read as a stand alone